


Enjoy Your Sugar While You Can

by SomethingBlue42



Series: Suptober 2020 [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, Baby is a horse, Cowboy Castiel, Cowboy Dean Winchester, Cowboy Sam Winchester, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Implied Frottage, Implied Oral Sex, M/M, Possessive Dean Winchester, Protective Dean Winchester, Riot is a horse, Sam rides a clydesdale, Team Free Will (Supernatural), Vague Sexytimes, implied anal fingering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:00:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26961052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomethingBlue42/pseuds/SomethingBlue42
Summary: Suptober Day 4: Branded"They branded you, Castiel!" Dean's palm smacked the mattress hard, "You think I'm just gonna stand by while they hurt someone I…""Yes?" Castiel looked smug, his eyes cutting to Dean, who grumbled."You left for a reason. You left because they were gonna get you killed-""And I wanted to be with you."Dean rolled his eyes, but his cheeks flushed. "Yeah, yeah. Point is they… they don't get to… to-"Cas' closed his book and set it aside, frustration finally reaching its breaking point. "I just don't understand why after everything we've done - the cease-fire, the splitting of territory, everything - you choose now when we've settled into some semblance of peace to go-""Because you're mine!" Dean roared, his voice sharp as a slap.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: Suptober 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1960396
Comments: 10
Kudos: 112





	Enjoy Your Sugar While You Can

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why I'm incapable of writing something shorter than 1500 words, but it appears that I am. 
> 
> Also not only had I never written a western/cowboy AU before this, I realized my only exposure to the genre was watching Dr. Quinn Medacine Woman with my grandma as a kid and half a season of Deadwood. So here's to winging it!

A dry wind rustled across the prairie, the bright heads of sunflowers nodding at the black mare and the man on her back as they passed. The ground shuddered under the beast that followed, a good 17 hands tall, the rider astride it larger than any man most had seen. They crested a small hill, and the mare stopped almost before her rider pulled the reigns and his hand raised, signaling the man behind him to pause. 

"What is it?" the large man asked, maneuvering, so he was next to the other, squinting down the rolling hillside and his face sobered at the sight of the overturned wagons. 

"Nothin' good." The black mare shook out her mane and snorted, responding to the unease of her rider, and he brought a hand down to pat at her neck absently. "Keep your eyes open."

The larger man nodded as the black mare edged forward, the riders’ eyes sharp on their surroundings as they came closer to the wreckage. The space between the two riders widened as the leader inched closer, the larger man hanging back to keep a wide view. 

The mare let out a low whiney as they approached the first of the overturned wagons. "' S'all right, Baby. Just an accident." Though the bullet wounds on the dead man in the driver's seat begged to differ. 

The rider dismounted, wrapping the reigns loosely around a spoke in a wagon wheel, and Baby nuzzled at his neck, nudging hard at his shoulder. He shushed her again, green eyes scanning the detritus of clothes and papers that littered the trail along with the bodies. This wasn't the first ransacked caravan he and his brother had come across, but it was the first massacre, blood soaking into the dirt from men that had died defending their party along with the women and children they ultimately couldn't save. 

The rider stepped forward, and Baby tried to follow though she halted when he held a hand up to her, snorting and pawing at the dirt in displeasure. The prairie was silent, aside from the occasional gust of wind and swish of sweetgrass around them. The rider looked back, eyes finding his brother still atop his horse, though his rifle now laid across his lap. 

Dirt crunched under his boots as the rider took slow steps forward, peering into the backs of wagons but was only greeted with more horrors or pillaged goods. A high keening sound lit on the man's ears, so low he almost thought he imagined it. His hand, already resting on the butt of his gun, slipped it from its holster, the click of the hammer slotting a bullet into the chamber loud in the near silence. 

A bloody hand visible near the wheel of one of the wagons twitched, and the keening stopped. The rider watched the fingers relax, and he steeled himself, hoping that once he rounded that wagon, he'd be faced with another dead man and not the barrel of a pistol. He wasn't prepared for what he actually found there.

"Oh… shit… _Sam!"_ The rider's voice rang out as he dropped to his knees, unlocking and holstering his weapon. The sound of hoofbeats hurtling towards them broke the silence like the crack of a whip.

The injured man gave a smile that was more of a wince. "Hello, Dean." 

Dean was half-frozen, one knee in the dirt with his hands hovering, not sure what to do exactly. His jaw worked open and closed as if trying to find words. He finally managed to choke out, "Cas," as his brother skidded to a halt, dismounting and rounding the wagon to aim his rifle down.

"Cas?" Sam's voice was a shock to Dean's system, his hands immediately pawing over Cas' legs and chest, searching for wounds.

Cas cried out, back arching as Dean's hand pressed against his chest, and Sam dropped to his knees next to his brother, twisting the pack that was slung across his body to the front and fishing out a flask. He handed it to Cas as Dean tried to tug the lapel of Cas' ripped linen shirt away from his chest, the fabric clinging to the wound underneath and making Cas grit his teeth.

"Who did this?" Sam offered Cas the flask, and Cas took it with a shaking hand.

"Same as always. Left their calling card." Cas winced heavily, sloshing a bit of the liquid onto the wound as it was revealed before taking a deep drink. 

Dean's eyes went flat as he took in the angry brand scorched into the skin over the other man's heart. It was an X surrounded by a circle with a V, the top points of which aligned with the top points of the X but it descended past the center point to rest in the middle of the lower quadrant. He could feel Sam's eyes on him, bracing himself for a reaction, but Dean swallowed it down as he got to his feet.

"Dean…" Cas' voice was a rumble, a warning. "Don't-" Cas cut himself off with a sigh as the crunch of Dean's boots moved further away. "Dean!" He shouted but knew it was futile, the jingle of Baby's reigns carrying on the prairie wind a prelude for Dean's gritted "hyah!" Castiel and Sam could only watch as they streaked past, a blur of black accompanied by the sound of hoofbeats.

It was well after dark when Dean returned to the homestead, bone-tired and bloody. He took his time unsaddling Baby and putting her up for the night, slipping her a few sugar cubes. Dean rested his forehead against hers, breathing in the musky scent of her coat as she chewed while trying to nuzzle him.

"You're as stealth as a steam engine, you know that?" he said, giving Baby one last pat on the nose, and Sam stepped from the shadows. 

"Wasn't goin' for stealth." 

At the sound of his master's voice, the draught horse appeared around the back of the shed, mammoth frame trundling over to nudge Sam's shoulder. Sam merely lifted his hand to wrap an arm under the gelding’s neck, patting the side of his face absently. Dean pulled another sugar cube from his pocket and held it out, noting Sam's look of derision as the horse gobbled it up.

"Don't mind, Sammy, Riot." Dean patted the horse's muzzle, and its large eyes blinked balefully. "Life's short. Gotta enjoy your sugar while you can."

"Shorter for some more than others…" Sam muttered, looking Dean up and down. Dean gave him a sour look, nudging past his brother to amble over to the wash bucket. "One of us need to keep watch?"

The moon was high and bright, so despite the hour and distance, Dean could see his brother's face clearly when he shot him a look over his shoulder. "No." 

Dean unceremoniously dunked his entire head in before rising again, sucking in a great breath as he shook out his hair, rubbing his hands over his face and watching the red turn pink as it dribbled down his forearms. He grabbed the sponge and scrubbed at his face and neck, hands, and wrists, ignoring his brother when he moved to lean against the side of the house.

"How many you kill?"

"Enough." Dean dropped the sponge back on the shelf and moved to walk away, combing his fingers through his hair to tame it. Cas would need to cut it for him again soon. 

"Dean-"

Dean spun to face him. "Listen, I know, alright." His annoyance faded after a moment to a look of naked fear before he wiped it away with a hand down his face. 

Sam stared at him for a moment before sucking in a great breath through his nose and letting it out again. "We could pack up, head to Texas-"

"Run?" Dean snorted in disbelief. "Where ever we go, they'll find us."

"Well, at least you're not talkin' about goin' out on your own this time."

Dean gave a hateful shrug, eyes scanning the empty plain. "Dudn't matter. They know he's what'll make me come running. Or you. None of us are safe until they're all dead."

Sam's lips twitched. "Guess I better get a letter out to Bobby then. Ask him to send reinforcements."

Dean didn't look at his brother just gave an assenting hum after a moment and grabbed his hat from where'd he'd left it on the post. 

Cas was in their room under the quilt when he entered in stockinged feet, boots left by the front door at Cas' request. Their eyes met in the lantern light, the book in Cas' hands falling to his lap, and Dean's gaze fell to the bandage on Cas' chest. White-hot rage speared Dean again, his teeth grinding together though his face remained blank. Cas heaved a sigh, looking him up and down. 

"You've ruined your shirt.”

Dean looked down, twisting his hat in his hands. "Yeah, well…" 

He didn't know what to say. He hadn't thought twice when he mounted Baby and took off to the Angels' stead or as he gunned down each man as he crawled from tents or doorways. It felt like someone else, not him, had grabbed the one they called Michael and blinded him with an iron straight from the fire but left him alive to tell the Angels that Dean Winchester sent his regards.

A chuckle from Cas drew his attention, and he found the man had crossed his arms over his chest, one elbow resting in the crook of the other, an elegant finger pressed to his lips. Dean felt one side of his mouth turn up. "What?"

"Just you. Standing there with your hat in your hand." Cas gestured to him, and Dean looked down at it, the deep brown fur felt fading from the sun. "It's apropos."

Dean shot him a glare, closing the door behind him and hooking the hat on the bedpost. “I see you benefited from the Angels' raid despite it all." Dean nodded at him, and Cas looked down at the book in his hand and then to the two on the bedside table. He lifted his book again to continue reading.

"Those are for you."

Dean's eyebrows raised as he pulled his shirt off, wincing against the pain in his ribs beneath the fabric so Cas wouldn't see. He let it fall and hooked his thumbs under his suspenders, pulling them down. "Oh yeah? What they about?”

"One is about a small village in New England plagued by a headless menace, and the other is about a whale."

Dean snorted, his undershirt already on the floor as he shoved his pants down and kicked them off his ankles. He lifted the quilt, getting a peek at Cas' equally naked body before he slid between the sheets. The bed squeaked under his weight, and he wiggled obnoxiously, shaking the frame and Cas, who let his book fall to his lap and his head tip back with a sigh. Dean took it as an invitation to press a kiss to his throat and settled down on his side, an arm slinking across Cas' waist.

"Sam taking first watch?" Cas murmured, elegant fingers turning a page, and Dean captured the hand with his, curling it in his own and pressing dry kisses to the knuckles. "Hmm?"

Dean sighed. "No. No one will come tonight. Sam will ride for the post tomorrow."

Cas lifted a brow. "Bobby?"

Dean's nose nudged Cas' bicep. "We're hoping he'll bring reinforcements."

Cas sighed. "Must it really come to that?"

Dean was up on his elbow in an instant. "Well, I ain't runnin' no more. This feud is ending one way or another."

"You mean with _you dead_ or the other?" 

Dean's jaw clenched. "A man stands for his… family, or he dies tryin'."

"Don't make this about me."

"They _branded_ you, Castiel!" Dean's palm smacked the mattress hard, "You think I'm just gonna stand by while they hurt someone I…"

"Yes?" Castiel looked smug, his eyes cutting to Dean, who grumbled. 

"You left for a reason. You left because they were gonna get you killed-"

"And I wanted to be with you."

Dean rolled his eyes, but his cheeks flushed. "Yeah, yeah. Point is they… they don't get to… to-"

Cas' closed his book and set it aside, frustration finally reaching its breaking point. "I just don't understand why after everything we've done - the cease-fire, the splitting of territory, _everything_ \- you choose _now_ when we've settled into some semblance of peace to go-"

" _Because you're mine!_ " Dean roared, his voice sharp as a slap.

Castiel's eyes widened as Dean struggled up onto his hip, his face set in earnest, but his brow softened as he opened his mouth to continue, as if realizing what he'd said. He shook his head quickly, and his hands lifted to cup Cas' face, mouth opening again before he snapped it shut. He swallowed, green eyes meeting blue with hesitance, and Cas' head tipped in his hands, eyes tightening in puzzlement. Dean's jaw tightened, rallying his voice, but it still only came out as a rough whisper.

"You're mine, and they don't get to mark you, hurt you. Not without feeling the holy fire of God rain down on them." Dean's eyes held Cas' unwaveringly, and Castiel let his fingers curl around Dean's wrists, holding him there and feeling the quick thrum of his pulse. "I will put every single one of them in the ground before they touch a single hair on your head. You hear me, Cas? This ends now."

They were silent for a moment, holding each other's gaze and breathing each other's breath, before Castiel nodded finally, the barest hint of movement before Dean crushed his mouth to his. 

Dean took his time worshipping Cas' body with mouth and hands, lips and tongue, fingers dragging pleasure out of him until he was breathless and boneless, sore and satisfied. Dean found his own satisfaction in the lazy roll of hips riding against Cas' thigh. Cas kissed him senseless, running his hands through Dean's hair before fumbling his arms around his waist, gripping handfuls of his ass, encouraging him to move harder against him until Dean's release painted their torsos. 

They lay tangled together, nothing but the sound of heavy breath and crickets, the occasional howl of a coyote piercing the silent night. Dean curled into Cas, pulling him tighter so that his forehead rested against the hallow of Cas' throat, arms wrapped nearly double around the other man. Cas pressed a tender kiss to Dean's hairline, and Dean breathed in deeply the smell of dust and sweat, sex, and summer air on his skin. His body grew heavy.

"Don't think this means I'm not mad at you still." Cas' nose nuzzled in his hair. Dean felt a grin pull across his face.

"Gotta enjoy your sugar while you can." He nuzzled at the edge of Cas' bandage and tried to pull himself closer. "You said there was a book about a whale..." 

He felt Cas' chuckle more than heard it. Dean made a disgruntled noise as Cas jostled him, moving around until Cas was on his back, and Dean was draped half across his torso. Dean felt the huff of Cas' breath at his crown as the other man breathed him in deep before letting it out and began to read.

_"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely…"_

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews/Kudos are <3
> 
> [Visit me on Tumblr](https://desti-feeels.tumblr.com)  
> 


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